"Flemming must have known your hand would not permit you to play in that game, so he could not have been in that piece of business."
"My dear boy, I do not fancy I was expected to
pitch that game. It was thought that I would keep the money. That money was marked. This man would have gone forth and blowed that he had bribed me. He would have told what marked money he had given me. I should have been cornered—perhaps arrested—then searched. You see what that would have meant. The marked money would have been found on my person. It would have been exactly as the stranger had described it. It is certain that somebody was watching and saw him give me the money. That person would have testified against me. Then Frank Merriwell's college career would have come to a sudden termination. In some ways it was a bungling plot, and in others it was crafty enough."
"But a cool thousand—that was an awful roll to push at a fellow!"
"It was a bold and desperate stroke, and the fact that such a sum was offered shows that the one who put up the job knew I could not be bought with a petty amount. He did not know that it made no difference whether it was one dollar or one million—I
would not sell my honor and betray dear old Yale for any sum!"
"You have other enemies besides Flemming."
"Yes—Thornton."
"He doesn't count, for he lacks nerve."
"Whom do you mean?"